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Belle of Louisville, new crew turn up the heat for Great Steamboat Race

The pressure is on the Belle of Louisville and its Captain Mark Doty for Wednesday’s Great Steamboat Race. Last year, the Belle of Louisville lost possession of the 12-point silver-plated antlers when the Belle of Cincinnati won the race. Shortly after, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer added to the pressure by declaring, “we better win” for the Louisville paddleboat’s centennial year, which is being celebrated now. But Doty is keeping his cool.

The pressure is on the Belle of Louisville and its Captain Mark Doty for Wednesday’s Great Steamboat Race.

Last year, the Belle of Louisville lost possession of the 12-point silver-plated antlers when the Belle of Cincinnati won the race. Shortly after, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer added to the pressure by declaring, “we better win” for the Louisville paddleboat’s centennial year, which is being celebrated now.

But Doty is keeping his cool.

“The performance of crew is going to play into it because they are all new hires and learning how to toss the lines and other things. They’re actually greenhorns,” said Doty, pointing out that his captains and mates have been working both literally and figuratively to show the new crew members the ropes.

Throwing rope is just a small part of achieving a win since the rules changed in 2009. The race isn’t only determined by which boat crosses under the Clark Memorial Bridge first. Each boat also has to perform a series of nine other tasks during the afternoon of the race. Among them are a jousting inflatable competition, an obstacle inflatable course, a handy line toss and a calliope contest. The tasks were introduced after the retirement of the Delta Queen — which raced the Belle of Louisville for many years — and the diesel-powered Belle of Cincinnati became the challenger.

Belle of Cincinnati Captain Alan Bernstein said he and his crew are “ready to put up the best defense we can,” but he still has suspicions.

“I’m not sure what our competitor has in store for us this year; they always seem to come up with new ways of cheating. And since it’s the Belle’s 100th birthday, we’re not sure what they have in mind,” he said.

He said he remembers when some of his mates saw Belle of Louisville crew putting banana peels on their hull to make their boat go faster.

“They were caught yellow handed with those bananas,” he said.

Doty was a bit more understated in his contentions of the Belle of Cincinnati’s advantages in Wednesday’s race.

“I’ve got a 100-year-old boat that wasn’t made with a bow thruster, which the Belle of Cincinnati has,” said Doty, explaining how the thruster can help a boat maneuver more easily — especially in the wind, which could be a factor.

But for now Dotty isn’t worrying about the weather.

“We never know until the day of what the weather will be,” he said.

Reporter Elizabeth Kramer can be reached at (502) 582-4682. Follow her on Twitter at @arts_bureau.